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Abortion
The law around the world United States Placeholder text to be replaced by a statement of the position on a state by state basis United Kingdom Placeholder text to be replaced with text describing the law at present France Abortion (by the wish of the mother) is legal before the 12th week of amenorrhea. Medical abortion is legal if two doctors attest that either * there is danger for the life of the mother * there is a strong probability that the unborn child will have a very serious incurable disease. Analysis of Arguments For Abortion The Foetus is Part of the Mother's Body Perhaps we should organize discussion based on for and against Better for Babies to be Aborted Than to be Born Neglected and Poor "Back Alley" Abortions Would Increase if it Were Made Illegal Against Abortion The Unborn Child has Human Rights Also organize based on why Discussion Points General Discussion This is a complex topic, so I would like to try and start off neutral and just ask some questions. * When does life begin? * What constitutes a life? * What makes a fetus human or non-human? * What makes an embryo human or non-human? * Do some people believe that once a zygote was formed from the combination of sperm and egg, that it is a life (even if it doesn't attach inside the uterus)? * Is a zygote really comparable to something like a skin cell? * Why should (or shouldn't) a mother have an abortion? * Should all abortions be legal, regardless of reason (e.g. Mental Retardation, Rape, Because Babies Smell Bad, Don't Fit Someone's Lifestyle). * Does this debate have anything to do with euthanasia? * Should governments (like China) be allowed to force citizens to have an abortion? Anphanax 07:03, 6 July 2006 (UTC) *I think these are excellent questions to answer, and they should definitly be answered first because any attempt to give a broad "abortion is ok" or "abortion is not ok" will be met with resistance. Any attempt to legislate morality is, well, an uphill battle to say the least. Personally, I don't think abortion is such a great idea, but I'm not a woman. That means I've made some personal decisions so I never deal with this issue, such as no sex until I'm married. It's quite possibly less popular than abortion, but I think it's important to put my money where my mouth is. If I don't like abortion, I am sure as hell going to avoid any situation that would force me (or whomever) to deal with these consequences. Just a few interesting things to note - :* The fetus is very literally part of the woman's body. I can do anything I want to my own body (except kill myself) :* Abortion puts all the blame / attention / pressure on the woman. It took (at least) two people to get this woman pregnant. Where is the guy in all of this mess? :* As a general rule of thumb, before anyone kills someone else, they dissociate the person from a human; they are "Terrorists", "Enemy Combatants" or even "Collateral Damage". In hateful speech, the targets are refered to as "Animals", "Inferior" and so forth. I find it interesting that the debate centers around if the fetus is a human or not; from there morality and legality are argued. Mark (July 6, 2006) :The argument about abortion boils down to whether the fetus is human or not. I believe that it is a human. Here are four arguments that try to disprove four common arguments in favour of abortion :* 1. Many people believe the fetus is not a human because of its size. A fetus is very small so how could it be a human. Well size does not have a bearing on whether it has rights or not. Babies, although small, are not thought of as less human than an adult. Does the fact that something is bigger than you mean that is more human than you? A babie, born prematurely, is bigger that other fetus, yet it is legal to abort the fetus but not the babie. Size does not matter :* 2. Development is often used as an argument against but this is only an argument about degree not kind. A physically or mentally challenged person outside of the womb is not thought of as less of a person. If this can be said about peaople outside of the womb, then it can also be said about a fetus. :* 3. The next common argument is based on location. Some say that since the fetus is located in the womb, it is not a human. But, like size and development, this argument is flawed. Where a person lives doesn't have any bearing on the essence of who that person is. Moving from one place to another does not change anything about your humanity. The fetus is certainly dependant on his/her mother, but is not apart of it. :* 4. The final argument, and most popular, arguments against the humanity of a fetus is the without his/her mother the fetus could not survive. Although true this argument of dependancy could cover all of humanity. Humans are dependant beings. We depend on the atmosphere, we depend on the sun, many people depend on things such as resperators, pacemakers, and more, we depend on many things in our life. The argument that a fetus is not human simply because it depends on his/her mother is wrong. In, fact new born babies are dependant on their mothers too. Why isn't it right to kill them too? A newborn is useless and will die if left alone. The ironic thing about this argument is that in other cases humans give the more dependant people higher protection of the law. A child murder insights much more outrage than an adult murder. Why is there a double standard? : These four points try to show that the fetus is infact a human. Anyone wishing to dispute this is wrong. Adolf Hitler killed many because he did not believe that the Jews and others were people. How is todays society any better. We kill even more that Hitler. Hitler kille 6 million, but abortions have killed around 40 million within the last 25 years. How can we say this is right?!?! Beside we are shooting ourselve in the foot. How can our population grow if we kill 1.4 million people a year. I don't understand this. Queue says: (7.6.06) The argument is more complicated than whether a fetus constitutes a human person, and yes personhood is the sticking point not humanity. A being is human biologically; personhood is the moral question at stake. Also, if more than Mark's 1.4 million people are born every year than the population grows. More simply, a population grows when the birth rate exceeds the death rate. But beyond that, if we do for a moment suppose that a fetus is a person that does not mean that it is entitled to life or those things that make sustaining life possible. Consider for a moment Judith Jarvis Thomson's thought experiment. You awaken in a hospital bed aside a violinist who is in a coma. You are told by the Society for Music Lovers that you are the only person who can help him live; you would, however, need to remain attached to him for nine months. It is undeniable in this instance that he is a human and a person, but it is easily arguable that while you would be charitable to stay and help him live it is not your moral (or legal) obligation. Category:Civil rights